Jajpur: Housing schemes for the poor have gone haywire in Jajpur district with 26 members of seven families being sanctioned with a residence each under the state as well as Centre-sponsored schemes, sources said Monday. This has happened in different villages under Jafarpur panchayat of Dasarathpur block.
What is more shocking is that six members of a particular family have managed to get a house each sanctioned in their names. More than 20 families have been illegally sanctioned more than one house under the various Awas Yojanas.
The Center has launched housing schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) while the state has unveiled the ‘Mo Kudia’ and the ‘Biju Pucca Ghar Yojana’ (BPGY) for the poor.
The district administration has assured people time and again that it will conduct probe into the irregularities in the various housing schemes and strike off the names of ineligible beneficiaries. It has also promised to take action against negligent officials who are involved in the goof-ups. However, nothing has happened till date.
As a result, the list of ineligible beneficiaries is increasing day by day. The aggrieved villagers have drawn the attention of the Jajpur Collector, Chief Minister, Panchayatiraj Minister, Chief Secretary and Dasarathpur BDO but to no avail.
Earlier, similar allegations had surfaced from Dharmasala and Binjharpur blocks in the district. Later, steps were taken to trace the illegal beneficiaries and get the money back from them. However, no action was taken against the officials responsible for these irregularities.
Sources alleged that influential people have managed to get houses sanctioned in their names by paying bribes to officials in charge of enlisting the names of beneficiaries under these housing schemes. In the process the poor who are actually eligible to get a house have been left high and dry.
Sources pointed out that irregularities like hijacking of serial numbers of beneficiaries and swindling of lakhs of rupees by forging signatures have become rampant in this district. Funds have also been allotted to dead persons. Many government officials and financially sound persons are becoming beneficiaries of the housing schemes floated by the Centre and the Odisha government, they added.
Some social activists have lodged complaints in this regard before the Orissa High Court and the state Lokayukta but without any success. Sources informed that two to six persons from a single family have been enlisted as beneficiaries in the housing schemes.
According to a complaint, the names of six members of the family of Krutibash Das in Chaulia village have been enlisted as beneficiaries in PM Awas Yojana in FY 2021-22. The enlisted beneficiaries are Narendra Das and Surendra Das, son of Krutibash Das and his four daughters-in-law Pujarani Das, Annapurna Das, Mamata Das and Ranjita Das.
Similarly, five members from the family of Shankarshan Mallick of Jafarpur village have been sanctioned with five houses under PM Awas Yojana. The beneficiaries are Shankarshan, his two sons Sudarshan and Sarat Chandra and two daughters-in-law Subhadra and Kabita.
Similarly, four houses have been sanctioned to four members of the family of Alekh Das in Chaulia village. Three family members of Minaketan Mallick in Jafarpur village have also been enlisted as beneficiaries in one of the housing schemes.
Residents have demanded a proper probe to unravel the irregularities. Efforts to contact executive officer Ashok Kumar Behuria of Jajpur Zilla Parishad over the phone failed as he did not respond to calls.
PNN